I first saw Laurens De Smet playing poker on the internet on an Online Casinos in Canada. Under the online handles "smetje" and "laurensds" at various online casinos, I saw his extremely quick move from the microstakes levels to mid-stakes No-Limit Hold'em cash games, and I remember thinking to myself: this guy has the mental mindset of a young Allen Cunningham or even Patrik Antonius. His extreme calm, his ability to select the games in which his mathematical edge was maximized and the respect he got from all the regulars at the online table made me realize this guy had what it takes to become a poker great.

Only a couple months later, I read about his adventures at the Unibet Open tournaments (Prague & London amongst others), and his succesful run during his first ever appearance at the World Series of Poker Main Event at the Rio Las Vegas. That's when I decided to start following him closely and try to understand what makes this somewhat legendary Belgian player the hope of his nation.

I discovered this secret in November of 2009 at the Belgian Open Poker Championship where he had a deep run, busting out in a cooler in 20th place. Even though he didn't even make it to the final two tables, at least 50% of the railbirds agreed on one thing: this extremely talented young Flemish player was the strongest tournament player in the field, far more impressive than other big names including Johnny Lodden, Noah Boeken and Pieter De Korver. Laurens De Smet is more than a poker player - he personifies a kind of mysticism that characterizes only the greats of the game, and I, together with the rest of the European poker world am sure that we'll see great things from this young poker genius who has been known to also enjoy a little pai-gow, blackjack and roulette for small change. Sometimes he has even been known to relax and play a little bingo online but he always finds his way back to poker.

I ended up creating this site to show my appreciation and my admiration for Laurens as a player and a human. Run good, Laurens - we'll be on the rail cheering you on!